Company News
Sony has a new CEO amidst leadership shake-up
Big changes are occurring over at Sony, with shuffling of leadership taking place for the first time since CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, retired in 2023. Ryan had been CEO of SIE and in charge of the PlayStation division, leaving the role to be taken in joint by Hideaki Nishino and Herman Hulst in 2024. The two have been PlayStation Studio’s leadership since then, and now Sony is making big changes.
Hulst will remain in charge of Sony’s PlayStation division, while Nishino will take charge of Sony Interactive Entertainment as a whole, becoming both CEO and president of the company. This means that Hurst will now report to Nishino wit lated is up for speculation, but could be exactly what Sony needs.
Since June 2024, Sony Interactive Entertainment has had two CEO’s working together. Nishino, having already been an executive within the company, while Hulst came from Guerrilla Games as a managing director. Prior to the co-CEO appointment, Nishino was Sony’s CFO. Now, Nishino will be SIE’s sole CEO, with Hulst focusing solely on the PlayStation division.
According to a statement from SIE Communications yesterday, Hulst “will continue to lead the development, publishing, and business operations of SIE’s first party-content,” as well as be “responsible for developing games across many devices including PlayStation consoles and PCs and bringing video game IP to new mediums through PlayStation Productions.” Nishino is also quoted in the statement, promising to continue “IP expansion” and “deliver the best in technology innovation.”
Sony has recently been a major talking point as of late within the gaming industry, and not for anything good. Just this past month, Sony killed two in-development live-service games, following its Concord disaster in late 2024. Their focus on live service has been criticized, as it’s merely resulting in developer studios taking the hit for their own poor business decisions.
Hopefully, with a switch-up of leadership that allows more singular focus, things will start to change for the better. According to SIE, this is part of an evolution within the company designed to “maximize synergies across SIE.” Hopefully, it’ll work out how Sony hopes. CBR